Aussie Jason Dawes takes Taiwan Open

Australian Jason Dawes easily won the US$300,000 Taiwan Open yesterday at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club with the biggest margin of victory in the history of the competition, which dates back to 1965.

Dawes, who resides in Melbourne, made light of windy conditions in Yangmei, Taoyuan County, to win eight strokes ahead of India's Jeev Singh and 11 shots in front of third-place finisher Lin Wen-tang (林文堂) of Taiwan.

The sun shone brightly for Dawes as he made his way toward the final hole, safe in the knowledge that he had such a commanding lead. The 30-year-old aussie closed out with another par, his 50th of the tournament, to snag first place and the US$50,000 prize.

Dawes had a final round of 73, with three bogeys and two birdies for a final score of 284 after 72 holes, to end at 4 under par.

He was a model of consistency over the four days of the tournament. He had only eight bogeys, scored 12 birdies and had one eagle and one double-bogey.

"It was extremely surprising," Dawes said. "I don't really want to say it, but it just seemed so easy out there today. Maybe it's because I'm a little older and wiser now and that made the difference.

The open's early leader, Jeev Singh of India, made a bit of a comeback after self-destructing at the end of the second round to finish with a total of 292, 4 over par, picking up US$33,000.

"I finished off very frustrated after the second round, but didn't give up," Singh said. "Today, I had nothing to lose and birdied [holes] three and seven. I was 2 under par in the wind, but Jason didn't make any mistakes and is a deserving winner."

Lin put in a strong showing yesterday, and had a total of 295 to bring further glory to the family after his brother Lin Wen-ko (林文科) won the Taiwan Masters earlier in the year.

"I was quite satisfied with the result today," Lin said after reaching the clubhouse. "I had an embarrassing moment on the 13th hole when I double-bogeyed."

Asked whether he had been affected by the crowd, he said, "Maybe, but I only blame myself for that."

Lin said the windy links in Hsinchu, where he regularly practices, had helped him cope with the strong gusts at Sunrise on Saturday.

Taiwan's Chen Chung-cheng (陳宗成) started the day in contention, sharing first position with Dawes at 4 under par, but it all started going wrong on the fourth hole and he never challenged after picking up a double-bogey on the 10th.

Dawes was initially speechless when it came to accepting first prize, but later said that it was the biggest win of his career. The Aussie said he had been a journeyman player on his own country's tour and headed back to golf school last year to improve his game.

"It's my first win on the Asian Tour and my first big win," Dawes. "At the start of the season I wondered if I could still do it. But when I was runner up in Thailand [earlier in the season] I knew I could do it.

He also said he was used to hard, fast courses like those in Melbourne which also have windy conditions.

Earlier in the day there was a shock when 14-year-old Lo Shih-kai (羅士凱) marked his card on the par-5 sixth hole as a seven rather than a nine. When this was pointed out to him he admitted his mistake, but officials from the Taiwan golf association GAROC said they had no choice but to disqualify him.